Bringing the classroom into the workplace

Co-operative Education Program

A current Co-op student, Brennan Jackson, talks about his Co-op work term and how it's helped him in achieving both his academic goals, and his career goals, with the company.

"I really enjoy it here. It’s an awesome environment, really good. It’s small enough to get to know everyone, but big enough for advancement opportunities,” says Jackson; third year University of Winnipeg BBA student and a Co-operative Education Program participant.

Jackson has been working at the Imperial Group, a wholesale supplier to funeral homes, for the past five years. A hard worker, both in school and at his workplace, Jackson has learned management and operations hands-on in his workplace. In order to tie his education and his workplace responsibilities together, he decided joined the UWinnipeg Co-operative Education Program this past fall.

“I did actual business forecasting for a Co-op credit assignment. This allowed me to get extra credits, graduate sooner, and I’m using my school skills to gain credit. It’s a great combo!” said Jackson. He worked with The Faculty of Business and Economics professor, Dr. Fantazy, to come up with a project that fit with his workplace goals.

Jackson quickly adds that it has also been very beneficial to business. He explains that he utilized these newly acquired forecasting techniques in ordering for The Imperial Group. By doing this, he was able to order more accurate quantities and didn’t have the overages experienced previously.

Jackson is finishing up Co-op II this winter term, and already is planning goals for the spring/summer work term at Imperial Group.

“I really like the sales aspects of the job and the meeting prep. I like providing value to the client by not just selling, but by offering more,” said Jackson.

With his obvious love of sales and building professional relationships, Jackson’s goal to learn more about marketing for the upcoming Co-op III, makes perfect sense. His academic project will provide him with the latest marketing skills and knowledge to apply to his hands-on work experience. In the end, it’s a win-win scenario for both student and industry!

Jackson attributes his growth previously served in a General Manager role for the Manitoba Branch with plans to stay with the company and be in charge of sales in Manitoba, Western Canada and Ontario. It will be more workload and different, but he takes it all in stride by saying, “I’ll just run with it!”